Akron officer won't let go of case: He still hopes to solve hit-and-run

Phil Masturzo, Plain Dealer File10-year-old Tony Swain, who was killed in a hit-skip accident in Akron

Sunday,September 3, 2006Edition: Final, Section: Metro, Page B1

AKRON, Ohio — Even when he’s out of town, Police Officer Ken Clark looks closely at every red or maroon car that matches the description of the one that struck and killed 10-year-old Tony Swain as he walked in a crosswalk Sept. 6, 2005.

“We need that car bad,” said Clark, who believes he knows who drove away as the boy lay dying on the curb.

But he needs more evidence to persuade prosecutors to file charges.

Despite requests by his boss to put the case on the back burner, he just can’t box up papers and evidence on a table in his office.

“ ’Cause it’s a kid,” he said. “Lillie Swain deserves to have closure and find who killed her son.”

Tony and his sister, Charlique, 6, were crossing Hammel Street at 7:45 a.m. on their way to school when a car speeding east on Lovers Lane ignored the screams of the crossing guard and struck Tony as he pushed his sister out of the way.

Police arrived within minutes and got a description of the car and driver from the crossing guard and a motorist, Clark said. The car was red or maroon.

When it hit Tony, the plastic lens cover for the front right turn signal broke. The driver was a black man of slight build.

Eight police cruisers flooded the area.

“In most hit-skips, we find the vehicle pretty early,” he said.

Not in this case.

Technicians from Ford examined the white and orange plastic pieces from the turn signal lens, which had been scattered in the road. They are from a 1989-1995 two-door Mercury Cougar or Thunderbird.

During the next three weeks, every Cougar or Thunderbird in the city that fit the description was stopped.

“Everyone was understanding,” Clark said.

Several times officers took turn signal lenses off cars to determine whether they had been replaced. Police confiscated one car for a search and checked body shops.

Clark also scanned classified ads for Cougars and Thunderbirds that were for sale and contacted the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles for car registrations and temporary tag holders, because a witness thought the car had a temporary tag.

“It’s amazing we never found it,” he said. “By now it could be torn apart or crushed.”

Police also investigated hundreds of leads and checked surveillance videos from nearby businesses. They sat at the intersection in the morning and at night in case it was on the driver’s route to school or work.

As months went by, the number of officers on the case dwindled from six to one — Clark — who works on it along with other cases.

Several months ago, based on talk on the street, he identified someone he believes was driving the car, but the suspect refuses to talk to police. Others who might have information are afraid to come forward.

“If we found the car, we could figure out how he got it,” Clark said. “Eventually we will have the proof we need to make an arrest in this case.”

While Clark looks for evidence, Lillie Swain appeals to the conscience of those who know the driver’s identity.

“People are not speaking up,” she said. “If only they were in my shoes and could see the pain and suffering I am going through. . . . They need to come forward before something happens to someone else.”

Otherwise, the driver will continue to pose a threat, she said.

“If they can do that to my child — hit him, kill him and take off — they will do it again,” she said.

Swain sat in a living room filled with photographs of Tony. Holidays have been difficult. She baked a cake on his birthday, April 9, but broke down when she visited his grave.

She cherishes his last gift, a homemade green box with felt flowers he gave her on Mother’s Day. Inside are several pieces of paper. Tony drew hearts and wrote that he loved her.

“It’s been really rough the last year,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago I asked his father to box up his things and put them in the basement. It’s real hard, like saying goodbye. But I know I’ll see him again.”

She said her daughter is doing well. Swain drives her to Glover Elementary School but has not gone to the intersection where her son died.

Since the accident, a traffic light replaced the stop signs and flashing red lights at Hammel Street and the flashing yellow lights on Lovers Lane. Signs on each corner, which include Tony’s name and years of birth and death, alert drivers to the crosswalks.

The utility pole near the crosswalk, which became a memorial decorated with balloons and stuffed animals, now holds signs for garage sales.

Lillie Swain said she is nervous and afraid as the one-year anniversary approaches.

The nursing assistant at Heather Knoll asked for the day off.

“I will just drive off somewhere,” she said.

A $2,500 reward is offered for information leading to the detection and arrest of the driver. Call the traffic division at 330-375-2506.